Canada: Don't Abandon Refugees

U.S. President Trump is signing executive orders that violate the human rights and safety of refugees. Hundreds, if not thousands of people are at risk of being arrested and detained by immigration authorities, merely for seeking asylum.

Canada must act now to protect refugees. The Canada-U.S. 'Safe Third Country Agreement' means that most asylum seekers in the U.S. must make their refugee claim there, instead of in Canada. The agreement is based on the assumption that the U.S. is a "safe" country. The United States is no longer a safe country for refugees. Call on Canada to immediately rescind the 'Safe Third Country Agreement' with the U.S. so that refugees can turn to Canada for protection.

President Trump's executive orders blatantly violate international refugee and human rights legal obligations. Two of the executive orders include calls for a new regime of large-scale detention, expanded expedited removal without due process, deputizing of state and local officials to detain individuals suspected of immigration violations, and aggressive criminal prosecution for unauthorized entry, a means by which many seek access to asylum protection. The orders will curtail asylum seekers' ability to meaningfully pursue refugee claims, and greatly increase the risk that individuals with viable refugee claims will be deported to countries where they face persecution.

Amid a global emergency in which 21 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to war and persecution, the move by one of the world's wealthiest and most powerful countries to block off the avenue of resettlement and potentially criminalize people for seeking asylum is nothing short of appalling.

Canada cannot wait to see how things continue to develop in the days and weeks to come. Canada must immediately rescind designation of the United States as a "safe third country" and give refugees an opportunity to seek asylum in Canada.